


This Ain't My Sky

by Jayie_The_Hufflepuff



Category: Doctor Who, Firefly
Genre: Crossover, Gen, Post-Movie, season two
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-07
Updated: 2015-02-09
Packaged: 2018-03-10 22:14:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3305318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jayie_The_Hufflepuff/pseuds/Jayie_The_Hufflepuff
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The crew of Serenity is flying around the Outer Rim when they come across a rift in time and space. Nearly 60,000 years later, the Doctor and Rose Tyler stumble across the same rift. When the rift pulls both of their ships into itself, it spits them all out, scattering them in time and space. With no ships, no idea where they are, and being stranded with these people they've never met, each of them must figure out a way to get back to their own place in the 'verse.</p><p>Firefly/Doctor Who crossover, post-movie for Firefly, post-Age of Steel Season Two for DW. Multi-chapter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Taking the Sky

**THE OUTER RIM, 2519 AD**

     Zoë was unsettled. They had just finished a job a couple days ago that had brought in a good bit of coin, true. They'd gotten away clean, they'd gotten paid without a hitch, and they'd even gotten a tip on another job they could take on Boros. They were headed that way now, and so far, it was smooth sailing. But still, she felt uneasy. She wasn't sure what it even was. There was just a feeling in the air that something was going to go wrong, and soon.

     Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Zoë looked up to see Mal standing by her chair, grinning down at her. “C'mon, Zoë, now's a time for celebratin'. Ain't no need for sittin' about looking mopesome.” He was definitely tipsy. Zoë noted his flushed cheeks and too-cheery expression. The rest of the crew was seated around the dining table, laughing and joking over what remained of dinner. Even Jayne and Simon seemed to be getting along, scarily enough. They'd decided to splurge on wine with some of their earnings from the last job, so most everyone was at least a little buzzed. The only one other than Zoë who hadn't touched her glass was River, but she seemed lively and excitable enough without it. She was chattering about something to Kaylee, who was listening with a grin.

     “I can't drink right now, sir,” Zoë reminded the captain coolly. Her belly was just starting to get round enough for people to notice.

     “You can celebrate without getting' tipsy,” he reminded her.

     She shrugged. “Not really in a celebrating mood.”

     His expression grew more serious. “You alright?”

     “Fine, sir. Just uneasy.”

     He gave her a measuring glance. “Not sure I see anything worth getting twitchy over. We managed to get through a job without any surprises, and we got better pay than we've had in weeks. Seems to me we're in the clear for once.”

     Zoë gave him an even glance. “I know. And that's usually exactly when things take a turn for the worst.”

     No sooner had she spoken then an alarm started blaring. Everyone froze, turning to stare up towards the bridge. Mal let out a sigh, glancing back at Zoë. “You know, I hate it when you're right.” She said nothing, simply got to her feet and started off towards the bridge.

**THE OUTER RIM, 59,300 AD**

     “Did you see the look on his _face_?”

     The Doctor's sides hurt from how much he'd been laughing. “Yes! Oh man, I didn't think humans could turn that shade of purple.”

     She shook her head, barely able to get the words out between laughter. “He was just standing there, with that sock in his hand, with the little penguins on it.” They both dissolved into giggles again, too caught in their laughter to go on.

     Rose and the Doctor were relaxing in the console room, sitting back in a couple of the chairs set up there. They were leaning back side by side, their feet propped up on the console in front of them.

     The blonde human let out a contented sigh. She reclined back in her chair, eyes closed and expression soft and relaxed. “Much as I love running around the universe, it is nice to just sit around for a day.”

     The Doctor _hummed_ in agreement. “We haven't had a lot of days like it lately,” he added. “Lots of running about.”

     “Oh yeah, and who's fault is that?” He glanced at her in surprise. She was giving him that tounge-between-her-teeth grin that had him thinking more about her lips than he was generally comfortable with.

     He tried and failed to look insulted. “Oi, what's that supposed to mean?”

     Rose pretended to look thoughtful. “Let's see. Of the two of us, which one's more likely to get us into trouble?” The Doctor just gave her a pointed look until she grinned and admitted, “Yeah, alright, it's a pretty even race. But you're the one who keeps driving us places where we end up getting chased or captured or whatever.”

     “My driving's spot on, thank you very much,” the Doctor protested, lightly nudging Rose's foot with his own. She giggled, her dark eyes lit up with amusement. “We just have rotten luck.”

     She rolled her eyes, but conceded, “Alright, if that's how you want it. Luck it is then.” The blond woman leaned back against her chair as she added, “Let's hope our luck doesn't coming poking it's nose around today then.”

     Just as she finished speaking, the TARDIS jolted around briefly, causing Rose and the Doctor to lurch forward in their seats. After the ship settled again, red lights began flashing from the console, which was letting out a blaring alarm.

     The Doctor groaned, he and Rose grudgingly rising from their seats to approach the console. “Just our luck,” he grumbled.

**THE OUTER RIM, 2159 AD**

     Everyone had piled into the bridge. River was seated in front of the controls, trying to get a fix on what the problem was, while Kaylee was under the control panel, checking the machinery itself. “Nothin' wrong down here,” she reported, coming back up and looking at all of them. “She's running smooth from what I can see.”

     Mal let out a slow breath. “Good. Least the ship ain't broke.” Now that he knew his ship wasn't in any imminent danger of falling apart in the middle of nowhere, he felt a mite calmer. He then turned his attention to River, coming to stand behind her seat and look at the controls from over her shoulder. “What about you, little Albatross? Any reasons why that alarm's going?”

     River's brow was furrowed. She wasn't looking at the controls, but out into space, her expression unreadable. Seemed like she was in one of her less lucid states. “Something out there,” she murmured.

     The captain stiffened. “Something. Like danger something?” The last thing they needed was to run into trouble this far out from any planet.

     She shook her head. “Not in itself. It's a nothing. Nothing torn apart, the very fabric cut in two, a mouth gaping, spewing _nothing_.”

     Mal glanced back at his crew, looking for an explanation, and found none. “So, you're saying there's nothing out there?” he repeated with confusion.

     River glared back at him, her instantly recognizable Captain-you're-a-gorram-idiot expression. “No,” she said very clearly. “Something in the nothing.”

**THE OUTER RIM, 59,300 AD**

     “See, there.” The Doctor pointed out a signal they were picking up on the monitor. “It's a rift.”

     Rose looked at him in surprise. “What, like the rift in Cardiff, the one Blon tried to use to destroy the city?”

     “Exactly like it. A rift in Time and Space.” He rubbed the back of his neck, his brain going over this new information. “And, unfortunately, we're flying right towards it.”

**THE OUTER RIM, 2519 AD**

     “A tear,” River tried again to explain. The words didn't always come easily. There were so many thoughts, strands of a web floating here and there in her mind, so hard to connect. She knew what she _meant_ , but finding the words, stranding them together, that was the challenge. Some days were easier than others.

     As usual, Mal looked at her like he was trying to solve a particularly complex puzzle. “A tear... in the nothing?” he tried again weakly.

     “A tear in space?” That one had come from Zoë. River gave her as grateful a look as she could, then nodded to Mal.

     He still looked very confused, which wasn't an unusual expression for him. Their dear captain could be drearily slow sometimes. “A tear in space. Right.”

     From further back in the bridge, Jayne spoke up. “How the hell d'you tear _space_?” There was a definite slur to his words, River noted with distaste. Of the crew, he'd probably drunk the most that night.

     To his credit, Mal glared back at Jayne until he took the hint and shut up. After a moment, he turned back to River. “Alright, tear in space, whatever - what does this mean for us?”

     River sighed, looking back out into space. She could feel it out there, Time and Space and Nothing pulling at them with dark tendrils. “We're heading right for it.”

**THE OUTER RIM, 59,300 AD**

     His companion looked at him in alarm. “I thought we were just floating in space for the day.” Normally, he'd have sent them into the Time Vortex on a day like this, but they'd been planning some star-watching later. “Why are we moving?”

     The Doctor was staring at the monitor with a furrowed brow. “We're not. We're being pulled in.” He looked back at Rose. “That rift, it's almost like a black hole. It's sucking in and spewing out massive amounts of energy and matter all the time, a back-and-forth flow.” The Time Lord was very animated as he tried to explain himself. “Looks like right now, the Rift is trying to pull us in.”

     He whirled away without warning, heading to the other side of the console. As Rose watched, he started turning dials and throwing levels. She recognized it as the start of the TARDIS flight sequence. But it didn't seem to have any effect. The Time Lord grabbed one of the mallets he kept on standby and gave the console an irritated _whack_ , with no results.

     The Time Lord turned to look at her with a vaugely panicked expression. “I can't stop it,” he breathed. “I can't control the TARIDS right now. We can't turn around, I can't stop it.”

**THE OUTER RIM, 2519 AD**

     Mal wasn't the strongest fighter on board _Serenity_. Zoë and probably Jayne could hand him his ass in a straight fight. But there was a reason he was the captain instead of them. Instead of panicking, he cooly filed away what River was telling him and tried to focus on the most important issues at hand. What this tear in space actually was didn't matter right now. The only immediate concern was the safety of his ship and his crew.

     He leaned over River's chair, asking his pilot in a low, serious tone, “Can we turn ourselves around?”

     She shook her head, looking back at him with that creepy stare of hers that managed to be vauge and piercing at the same time. “Being pulled,” she explained.

     That didn't sound good. “Alright. We get pulled in there, what's gonna happen to us?”

     River just gave a small shrug. That didn't bode especially well; if the resident psychic didn't know what the weird space-tear was going to do, he didn't want to take his chances with it. “Well, see what you can do about steering. Don't wanna have to fly at this thing if we don't have to. Kaylee, you help her out.”

     As his pilot and mechanic got to work, he turned to the rest of his crew. “Everyone else, go strap yourselves down. We don't know what kind of ride we're in for, and we don't need anyone gettin' hurt.”

     The rest of the crew hurried off to do as Mal had ordered. Only Inara lingered. “Mal, what do you think is out there?” she asked in a low voice. There was fear in her dark eyes, but she was incredibly composed. Mal knew she had no more desire to panic the rest of the crew than he did.

     “Not much in the way of a clue,” he admitted. “If our geniuses over there can't turn us around, guess we're like to find out.” He resisted the urge to reach out and sweep some of the dark hair out of her face. “Go on and help the others. I want everyone strapped in by the time we hit this thing.”

     Inara gave him a hard look. “That means you too,” she told him firmly. “You won't be much help to anyone if you're a smear on the wall.”

     He met her glare with one of his own, their wills battling for a few moments before he look away. “Fine. Just go.”

     Her gaze lingered on him a few moments longer. Then, she turned and headed out of the bridge. Once she was gone, Mal made his way back over to the two girls hard at work on the controls. He had to hope they could get them out of this.

**THE OUTER RIM, 59,300 AD**

     Over the last few minutes, the Doctor had tried everything to get the TARDIS moving. He'd tried sending it elsewhere in Time and Space, he'd tried moving it to the side, even just stopping it, but to no avail. It was like the rift had totally overriden any control he had over the ship. Given how powerful the TARDIS was, that was more than a little concering.

     Rose had tried to help him, but seemed to realize before he did that it was a pointless endeavor. She'd opened the door of the TARDS, and was sitting with her legs dangling out in the nothingness of space, just staring out into the vast array of stars and galaxies. “I can't see the rift,” she commented quietly.

     Recognizing defeat, the Doctor came to sit beside her. They were moving forward through space, towards the invisible rift. “Neither can I,” he told her. “But I can feel it out there. We're not far now.”

     She turned to look at him, her blond hair sweeping over her shoulder. There wasn't fear in her dark eyes, just a sort of tension. “How long?” she asked.

     He let out a slow breath. “A minute, less.”

     “And then?”

     The Doctor shrugged helplessly. “No idea. We'll probably be spit out somewhere else in space.”

     Rose raised an eyebrow, repeating dubiously, “Probably?”

     He didn't have a good answer for her.

**THE OUTER RIM, 2519 AD**

     The rest of the crew had managed to strap themselves down securely. Jayne had helped them all strap in before securing himself, a rare act of gentlemanship from him. They were as safe as they could be now.

     Simon didn't entirely understand what was going on. River had said something about a tear in space, but he wasn't sure whether that meant a black hole, or something else. Either way, he knew he was afraid. It sounded like they were headed towards this tear, whatever it was, and there was no way to stop the ship.

     The tense silence from the rest of the crew was starting to get to him, so he forced himself to voice his fears. “What do you think it is? This tear?”

     Jayne snorted. “Prob'ly just your sister being all poetical again. Has to be. No offense, doc, but she still ain't exactly all there.” He was trying to act like he wasn't bothered, but he'd spoken too quickly, too defensively. Simon could tell he was scared, just like the rest of them. He graciously let the insult to his sister slide; his other concerns were more pressing at the moment.

     Zoë looked over at him. “No way to tell yet,” she said evenly. “But whatever's out there, we'll face it together.”

     “Right. Together.” Simon forced himself to take a deep breath. As usual, Zoë was right. Whatever danger this tear posed, they would face it together, the crew united to beat the danger, as always.

**THE OUTER RIM, 59,300 AD**

     Rose could tell the Doctor was afraid. He didn't show it openly, but there were little signs, the tense set to his jaw, the way he kept sneaking glances at her. Not being able to control the TARDIS had to terrify him, plus the threat of the unknown that the rift posed.

     She was afraid too, but oddly, she wasn't as terrified as she could tell the Doctor was. Whatever new danger this rift posed, they would face it side by side, like they always did.

     Her hand reached out, closing around his. The Doctor looked up at her in surprise. “We'll be okay, Doctor,” she told him as soothingly as she could. His hand tigthened around hers, a palpable show of fear. “We're together, right? Can't be anything too scary that rift can do to us.”

     His expression softened, and his grip on her hand loosened. He gave her a grateful smile, the soft, warm kind of smile that always made her head feel sort of light. “You're right,” he said, giving her hand a squeeze. “'Course you are.”

**THE OUTER RIM, 2519 AD**

     Kaylee tried not to feel terrified as she stared out into the black. She and River had tried everything they could think of to get _Serenity_ pointed away from the tear, but nothing had worked. And now, according to River's vague ramblings, they only had seconds left.

     Once he'd realized there was nothing they could do to stop _Serenity_ moving forward, Mal had strapped them both into the pilots' seats. He was currently holding onto one of the pull-down straps from the ceiling. All of them waited in silence for the tear to pull them in.

     She couldn't see the tear, but she could feel a sort of tingly energy in the air, some sort of pressure on her skin. As she tried to keep from whimpering in fear, she heard River call out, “Kaylee?”

     Kaylee looked over at her friend, trying to fight back the fearful tears. “Yeah?”

     River somehow looked entirely calm. She gave Kaylee a soft, reassuring smile. “You'll be fine,” she girl told her in a calm tone.

     Kaylee laughed, trying to ignore the terror in her chest. “You're lying,” she accused lightly. “You don't know what's gonna happen to us.”

     Her friend's smile faded. “Yes,” she admitted.

**THE OUTER RIM, 59,300 AD**

     The Doctor could feel it the instant they hit the rift. Light flooded everything around him, drowning out the stars, the TARDIS, Rose. He could feel her hand slipping from his.

     “ _Rose!_ ” The Doctor reached out desperately, clawing at the air to try and find her again. But there was nothing there. He felt everything around him melt away, felt himself falling.

     Then he felt nothing.

**THE OUTER RIM, 2519 AD**

     Mal heard River whisper, “It's time.”

     There was a bright, blinding light everywhere. He couldn't see River or Kaylee, or _Serenity._ The strap he was holding onto seemed to fade to nothing, then there was no floor under his feet. He was falling into nothing, with that light still blinding him.

     There was a sort of jolting feeling, then nothing at all.


	2. Scattered

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone tries to figure out where they are after the rift spat them back out.

**MOTANI, 155,043 AD**

     Rose fought back a wave of nausea as she came to. She felt like something had smashed into her head a couple hundred times. Her temple was throbbing, and when she tried to open her eyes, the blinding light that hit her eyes made her want to hurl.

     Somewhere nearby, she heard a low moan. Rose stiffened at the sound. She was a bit hazy right now, but that hadn't sounded like the Doctor's voice.

     As Rose blinked a couple times and let her eyes adjust, she started to remember what had happened. The rift pulling them in, not being able to move the TARDIS, the Doctor's hand slipping from hers. And now that her eyes were adjusted, she could see that she definitely wasn't in the TARDIS anymore. The floor under her was cold, smooth rock, and everything around her was gray. She seemed to be in a cave of some sort. There was a crack in the rock that led outside, overlooking a wide expanse of desert. She could feel the sun's heat in the light streaming into the cave from outside. Wherever she was, it was hot, and possibly deserted.

     Rose's head was starting to feel a little more clear now, so she decided to try sitting up. There was an odd lurching feel as she rose to a sitting position, but she didn't feel nauseous anymore, which she took as a good sign. Once she felt steady enough, the companion turned to look at whoever had moaned.

     There was a girl huddled on the floor a few feet away from her. She wore a blue dress and dark boots, and Rose could make out a dark head of hair from her angle. The girl was stretched out, motionless on the stone floor of the cave. Rose almost wondered if she was still unconscious, but she could hear her groaning. “Excuse me, you alright there?” she called out cautiously.

     The girl lifted her head, glancing back at Rose. She was immediately struck by the girl's eyes. They were dark, and sort of vague, as though she were in a trance of sorts. At the same time, they seemed to pierce through her, as though this girl, who couldn't be more than 18, were looking straight through her. At the sight of Rose, the girl stiffened, her eyes growing wide. “Wolf!” she gasped out, scrambling away from Rose as fast as she could.

     Rose felt a jolt of surprise at what the girl had just called her. The girl had scrambled away to the other end of the cave, and was staring out at her through her long, unkempt hair. Her eyes were wide and afraid, but the the fear was fading a little now. The companion forced her voice to stay soft as she told the girl, “Listen, I'm not going to hurt you.” A good dozen questions kept cropping up in her mind about what the girl had called her, but she forced them back for now. More important right now was to make the girl trust her.

     The girl stared at her for a long time without speaking. The initial panic seemed to be fading, and Rose could see her tensed posture relaxing. After a few moments, she glanced away. “This isn't home,” she remarked flatly, as though her sudden burst of fear had taken the energy out of her.

     “No. I guess it's not.” In truth, she wasn't sure where the girl had come from, or whether she was a native of the planet. She seemed human, but Rose's travels had taught her that that rarely meant anything. For now, until she could get some real answers, she gave the girl a friendly smile. “I'm Rose. What's your name?”

     The girl hesitated. Finally, she said in a low voice, “River.”

     “River. It's a pretty name.” That managed to draw a ghost of a smile from the girl. “Well, River, as long as we're stuck here, we might as well try to figure out where we are.”

**OOORKA, 2519 AD**

      _Jao gao._ Mal's head felt like it had a couple dozen hangovers slammed on top of it. He fought back the urge to hurl out all his innards and tried opening his eyes.

     He was politely greeted with a kick to his gut. Mal grunted in pain, eyes flying open. The sight he was met with made him wonder whether he hadn't gotten full-on plastered at dinner that night, with maybe something more powerful thrown in. He appeared to be in some sort of alley, lying in front of a street shop, which was probably the reason for the rude wake-up call. A man stood over him, glaring down at him with obvious distaste.

     Except, it wasn't a man. It was a creature that was vaguely human-shaped, with two legs and two arms and a head, but its skin was a dark blue, and seemed to be covered in scales. The creature's eyes were wide and amber, with two smaller sets of eyes beside them. It had a short, blunt muzzle, pointed ears, horns, and long fangs that stretched down to its chin.

     “You, get a move on,” the creature growled.

     Mal stared blankly up at the creature. “Uhhh...” His mind seemed to have gone oddly blank, except for the vague thought that he had to be on something to be seeing what he was seeing.

     The creature just stared back at him, unamused. “I mean it. Clear out of here in the next few minutes if you know what's good for you, and you better take your friends with you.” With that, he turned and trudged away, leaving Mal to his apparent delirium.

     Through the haze of utter confusion, Mal managed to hone in on something the creature had said - “You better take your friends with you.” The captain forced himself up to sitting, trying to ignore how his head felt like it was trying to split in two as he took a look around him. Two familiar forms were sprawled out behind him, groaning and shifting slightly.

     Mal head cleared a good deal when he saw them. “Inara!” He hurried to her side, leaving the other form, which belonged to one Simon Tam, alone for the moment.

     The captain knelt by her side, waiting as she groggily lifted her head. “Mal?” she murmured, trying to sit up.

     “Easy, take it slow.” Mal laid a gentle hand on her back, helping her up to a sitting position. She groaned, leaning against him for support. He tried to ignore the flutter in his chest when he felt her against him, and instead turned to look over at the good doctor. “You alright there doc?”

     His only reply was a groan. Simon had managed to get up to kneeling, but was hanging his head, looking perfectly miserable. Mal couldn't hold back a bit of smug pride that he'd recovered before the doctor. Of course, he'd probably had to nurse more sore heads in the morning than Simon ever had.

     Inara seemed to be recovering a bit now. She pulled away from Mal, much to his disappointment, and began to look around. “Where are we? We were on _Serenity_ , weren't we?” She looked back at Mal, her brow furrowed with clear confusion and concern. “How did we get here?”

     He was struggling to figure that out his own self. Last thing he remembered, he'd been in the bridge... of course. The tear in space. They'd flown into it, and he'd been flung into a world that made nothing close to resembling sense.

     “Not quite sure,” he admitted. “Reckon it has something to do with that tear thing, though.” He started to get to his feet, helping Inara to hers as well. “Either that, or I'm more drunk than I thought.”

     Inara wobbled a little as she rose to standing, but seemed to get her usual grace and balance back quickly enough. “So what you're saying is,” she began, glancing around the empty street with wariness, “we flew into some kind of tear in space while we were in different parts of the ship, and somehow we ended up out of the ship, together, in some alleyway somewhere?”

     Irritation flared up in the captain. “If you've got a better guess, please share,” he snarked.

     She seemed to think for a minute. “Jayne spiked our drinks with something and is trying to take over the ship?” she suggested.

     Mal paused at that. “Huh. Actually, that might warrant another thought.” It wouldn't be the craziest explanation for what was going on – actually, considering the alternatives, it sounded downright sane.

     “ _Wo de tian a._ ” They turned back to look at Simon. He was still kneeling on the street, but he was looking down the other direction of the alleyway, which led out into a wider street. As they followed his gaze, Mal stiffened in shock. He'd tried to write off that scaly clue critter he'd seen earlier as a delusion brought on by his sore, groggy head. But now he knew was wrong. Because out there on that street, were hundreds of the creatures, walking about like they owned the place. And it wasn't just the blue guys either. There were creatures of all shapes and colors, some on two legs, some one more, or less, or none. Some of them even looked human. But he knew none of them could, that nothing there was human, or anywhere close.

     “ _Tzao gao,_ ” he breathed, staring out at the alien display. “Oh god, please let me be drunk.”

**BARR TOK NI, 140 BC**

      _Ooof. Time travel without a capsule. I really need to stop doing that._

     The Doctor's head was pounding as he rose to a sitting position. He'd really thought that with Jack no longer on board, he really wouldn't have to deal with impromptu travel through time and space outside the TARDIS. He guessed it was just his lucky day.

      _Lucky day..._ Suddenly, it all came back to him. The rift, the TARDIS, Rose... wait, Rose! His eyes snapped open. He looked all around him, desperate to find his companion. What he found instead was the barrel of a gun pointed directly at his head.

     The owner of the gun was a woman, probably 30's or 40's, standing over him and wearing a long brown coat. Her expression was deadly serious, and there was no hesitation in the way she held that gun. Definitely a pro. She was just barely noticeably pregnant, but even in that state, the Doctor could tell it would be a mistake to underestimate her.

     In a low, clipped voice, she demanded, “Who are you, and how the hell did I get here?”

     The Doctor didn't take his eyes off the gun. “I don't know what you're talking about,” he said slowly. “Now, why don't you put the gun down?”

     Predictably, the gun didn't move. “Not until I get some answers.”

     “And what makes you think I have any?” he countered, still keeping a wary eye on the gun.

     He tried reading her expression, but it gave away nothing but steely determination. “My vessel was flying towards something, a tear in space,” she said firmly. “And then I wake up here, outside the ship, with you the only person in sight. So I'll ask you again.” There was a _click_ as she switched the safety off. “How did I get here, and who are you?”

      _A tear in space..._ His eyes widened in shock. “The rift!”

     The woman blinked, her expression not even betraying confusion. “The what?”

     It was all starting to make sense now. He tried to keep his tone reassuring as he explained, “I didn't bring you here, I was tossed here too, because my ship was pulled in by the rift. The same thing must've happened to your vessel.”

     “The rift. Is that what that tear was?”

     He nodded eagerly. “Exactly. It was a rift in time and space, like a black hole, only it doesn't just pull things it, it also spits them out again. It's a massive source of time and space energy.”

     The woman lifted an eyebrow. “Time and space? You're saying this rift dropped us somewhere else in time?”

     “Most likely,” he said with a shrug. Judging by her disbelieving expression, this wasn't a woman from very far past the 21st century. He finally looked away from the gun still pointed at his brain and took a look around them. They were in a forest of some kind, next to a lake. It seemed a bit different than an Earth forest – the leaves were all red, and the water seemed darker than it should be, but he couldn't place it with any of the planets he'd visited. “Wonder where we are? Not any planet I know.”

     The woman just now seemed to be realizing that the forest didn't look right. She glanced away from the Doctor for a moment, expression just a little uncertain. “What is this place?” she breathed.

     Her attention wasn't on him. He could reach out for the gun. But that was likely to end in a struggle with one of them getting shot, and the Doctor had no intention of letting that happen. Instead, he spoke in a low, soothing voice. “Listen to me. I didn't bring us here. I didn't steal you from your crew or anything. I'm in the same trouble that you are. Now, if we want to get home, we're going to have to work together. But that's only going to happen if you put the gun down. Now.”

     She hesitated for a moment, then sighed and slipped the gun back into its holster. “Fine.” With that, she held out a hand, which the Doctor took, and helped him to his feet. “So what's the plan?”

     He glanced around, trying to figure out which way to go first. “I have this friend. I dunno whether she ended up on this planet, but I have to try to find her. Or maybe we could find a town or something and try to contact her.”

     “Allons-y!”

**MOTANI, 155,043 AD**

     Kaylee felt something cold and wet poking her side. Fighting back a moan of pain, she opened her eyes, only to flinch back in shock.

     She was in a desert of some kind, with hot sand beneath her and a wide, blue sky above. Directly in front of her was a creature of some kind. It had six legs, two front pairs and one back pain. It was tall and furry, with sandy-colored fur and large, dark eyes. It had a blunt muzzle, pointed ears, and large antlers that dipped down towards its neck. It nudged Kaylee with its nose again, a low growl rumbling in its throat.

     The mechanic jolted back with a scream, scrambling away from the creature as quickly as she could. It flinched at her movement, then crouched, growling and glaring at her. As she froze, staring at it in shock, she wondered desperately, _Where the hell am I?_

**SOMEWHERE IN SPACE, 59,300 BC**

     Jayne groaned, trying to fight off a wave of nausea. He must've gotten plastered at that dinner to get a hangover this bad.

     As he opened his eyes, however, he began to realize a couple of things. First off, he was still drunk. Secondly, he was not on _Serenity._

     He was on a grating of some sort, and above him was a high-domed ceiling far over his head. There was an engine _humming_ nearby, but it wasn't _Serenity_ 's. Didn't sound the same.

     Jayne jolted up, immediately regretting it when the pain hit his head. He was in a ship of some kind, that much he could tell, but he didn't recognize the design of it. It was mostly round, with a few doorways hinting at other hallways. In the center of the room was a round, flat surface with a bunch of buttons and levers and other controls. Above it was a rotor of some kind, which led up to the ceiling.

     He rubbed the back of his aching head with one hand, and growled, “Where the _xi niao ji ba_ am I?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I finished this one quickly. Also, I woke up at 5 PM today. How does that even happen? And it screwed up my schedule for the day too.
> 
> Anyway, here's where all the characters have been dropped up and everyone who's been paired up for this little adventure. I hope all the locations and pairings are amusing and interesting to you guys. I'll try to continue this soon, but again, no promises.


End file.
